Her Beginning
by Lightfoot531
Summary: Alice Longbottom has a lot to live up to, with her father being a wizarding world hero and a Hogwarts' professor, and her mother landlady for the Leaky Cauldron. Now, on her first day, she hopes to realize what just everyone loves about Hogwarts.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So, this is my first FF in a very, very, long time. I was writing this for another contest, and I figured that I might as well post it since I have it all written and everything. It's a small ficlet, just a couple chapters. I have ideas for future stuff, so let me know if you want to read more. I tried keeping this as canon as possible, and hopefully some of you actually enjoy this! Please review!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. JK Rowling owns everything. End of story. **

Chapter One: The Platform.

"Mum, are you sure this is going to work?" Alice Longbottom asked, peering the platform entrance hesitantly. They were currently standing in front of Platform 9 and ¾, but thus far, Alice had not seen a sign for it.

"Alice, dear, don't doubt me," her mother, Hannah said with a small smile, gently nudging her daughter with the cart towards the wall. Alice nodded and as she closed her eyes fearfully, she ran towards the wall.

Much to her surprise and delight, when she opened her pale blue eyes and saw a scarlet train, the words Hogwarts Express painted onto the side in an authoritative script, a sign hovering above her head for Platform 9 and ¾. With a large amount of relief filling her, she began to walk away from the wall and waited for her mother.

"Alice!" Lily Potter, her good friend, exclaimed excitedly as she skipped towards her. Her flaming red hair was down, swishing behind her in the light wind, her brown eyes shining with excitement.

"Lily!" Alice said, returning her enthusiasm. Their parents, especially her father, had been good friends for ages, since Hogwarts, and Lily and Alice would always play at parties together, talking about when they would finally get to go to Hogwarts. Lily would tell her stories that she heard from her brothers, Albus and James, who were already there and having adventures of their own.

"I can't believe we're finally here!" Lily smiled brightly, jumping up and down slightly. She was full of energy at all times. Alice was more quiet and reserved than Lily; that was evident. She had blonde hair, often parted into pigtails, and a round face, quite like her father's. Dad often said she looked a lot like her grandmother, her namesake.

Due to both wars with You-Know-Who, she had never had the chance to meet her grandparents. Her mother's parents were killed during the war 21 years ago, while her father's parents, well, they never passed away, but she wasn't allowed to see them. They were in St. Mungo's, in a state of mind different from her own. When she asked her father if she could meet them, he said when she was older, and was ready. Alice never touched the subject after that. But, that was part of the reason she was excited about going to Hogwarts. She hoped that she would learn more about her family there, and find out what her family was like, what her parents had kept from her.

"I know! I'm really excited," Alice said, whipping her head around, trying to find her mother. She frowned slightly. She should be coming out of the platform right about now. Where was she? Alice wanted to say goodbye before the train left. She wouldn't be able to see her mum until Christmas…

"Alice!" Hannah Longbottom called out from somewhere in the crowd. Alice's awkward ears perked up, hearing her mother's voice.

"Mum?" she called back, and was about to walk towards her, when a large group of 6th years plowed through, accidentally taking Lily and her with them, making Alice lose her mother again. She sighed, trying to find her way around now.

"Oh! Look! It's Uncle Ron and Hugo!" Lily said, dragging Alice with her cart farther away. Alice nodded, looking around once again for her mother before Lily took her pudgy arm and dragged her.

"Hey Lily," Mr. Weasley smiled, his hand on his son's shoulder. "Hey Alice. It's good to see you here. Haven't heard from your dad lately," he said.

Alice nodded. "Yeah, he had to head back up to Hogwarts early because of the extra work. This year is the biggest year of students they've had up there," Alice said, repeating the very words her father had told her just a couple weeks ago. One consoling part about going to Hogwarts was that she would have the chance to see her father more. He was gone most of the time, growing up, due to his teaching position, mainly getting to see him on weekends and holidays. Now though, she could see him whenever she wanted. The very idea was enthralling.

Ron chuckled. "I imagine so. I don't remember the platform being this crowded before," he said, looking around, being knocked into by an overeager third year.

"Dad, I just found Mum, and I'm going to say goodbye to her first," Hugo said, his red hair askew as he pushed his way through the thick crowd of parents and students of all years, making his way to a woman of bushy brown hair saying goodbye to a third year girl, her daughter, Rose.

Ron smiled proudly at his son, before looking down at Lily. "Your mum and dad are by the train, helping Albus with his owl," he said, nodding his head behind him.

Lily's brow scrunched. "I wanted a cat. How come he got an owl?" he asked her Uncle Ron, who seemed to find her anger amusing and just shrugged, pointed her in the other direction. "See you on the train, Alice!" Lily said, waving before finding her parents. Alice nodded, looking around again. Where was her mother?

The sound of the whistle of the train only heightened Alice's nerves. Mr. Weasley had offered to put her stuff on the train for her while she found her mother, but that was only half the problem. She wanted to say goodbye. She needed to say goodbye. She didn't want to sound like a crybaby or anything, but she loved her mother with all her heart. She was always there for her, always there for her when no one else was. And this would be her last chance to see her.

"Mum! Mum!" Alice started shouting out, pushing through the dense crowd, slightly lessening since all the students were getting on the train. Tears began to press against her blue eyes. She was going to miss the train, or not get the chance to see her mother. "Mum!" Alice shouted, as she tripped over someone's foot.

"Alice!" Hannah said, furiously pushing through the crowd as well and picking her daughter up from the ground. Looking into her eyes, Alice saw tears in hers too. They gave each other a watery smile before hugging each other fiercely.

"You can write to me whenever you want. You can use your father's owl there," Hannah said, kissing the top of Alice's head.

Alice nodded, wiping her tears away with the sleeve of her robe. The sound of the whistle, signaling last call for all students rung through the air, heavy in Alice's heart. Though she was excited for Hogwarts, she was going to miss her mother. "I'm going to miss you," Alice whispered, hugging her mother once more.

Hannah smiled, doing her best to keep her tears away. "I'll miss you too. We only have a couple months until Christmas. And believe me, you'll have the best time of your life at Hogwarts. It will be worth every minute," she assured her, Alice nodded, being filled with confidence.

"I know," Alice said meekly, allowing to be led towards the train's door, which was beginning to pull away. The mother and daughter quickened their pace, Hannah helping Alice onto the train, Alice having to keep a firm grip on the railing as the train's speech began to increase.

"Be safe! I love you!" Hannah called out quickly, Alice returning the words before being forced to close the door. She went to an open window as quick as possible and kept waving back to her mother, before she could no longer see her waving back. She wiped away her last tears and began to look through the Hogwarts Express for the first time, taking in her surroundings. This was it. It could only go up from here, right?


	2. Chapter 2: A Train to Remember

**A/N: So, this is the next chapter. This can be the last one, the end of this, or I can continue it. I have ideas, but it's up to you guys. Review, PM, whatever is required to let me know if I should. Thank you so much to my one reviewer last chapter. It encouraged me to at least post this one. A song that made me relate to this chapter was Getting Better by the Beatles. At least, that's the song that plays in my head when the chapter ends. I don't know, just a fun tidbit for you all.**

Chapter 2: A Train to Remember

The hall of the Hogwarts Express was narrow, with an old carpet, probably the same one from when her parents were students there. She could tell she was near the front of the train, hearing the Head Boy and Girl giving the new Prefects an assignment list. She started to walk down the corridor, running her hand across the carved oak doors, the intricate patterns amazing her with the detail.

Her fingers ran over each bump and crease until she came to the end of the long hall, realizing for the first time that she was just wandering, Merlin knows for how long, and had no place to sit. She didn't want to be that kid, who wandered through the corridors because they had no one to sit with.

Against her wishes, she felt tears press to her blue eyes again. She didn't want to be alone these 7 years. Her parents had made lifelong friends their years here, and so far, she was starting off on a really bad foot. She had almost missed the train, and now she was lost on the Hogwarts Express, with nowhere to sit. Soon, kids were going to notice, and probably laugh at her. She didn't like the looks of that Malfoy kid. He didn't look very nice…

"There you are!" she heard from down the hall, to see Lily and Hugo running towards her. Relief spread across Alice's face as she saw them. "We have been looking for you. Come on, Uncle Ron put all your stuff in our compartment already. We saved a spot for you," Lily said, taking Alice's hand and dragging her down the hall, a smile finally on Alice's face.

"It's been real hectic on this train. I've never thought the halls would get this crowded," Hugo said, as they had to press their bodies against the wall to allow two fifth years and a few third years to pass them.

"Yeah, well, it is now the year with the most students in Hogwarts' History," Alice said, echoing her words from earlier.

Hugo nodded, remembering her words from earlier on the Platform and led them to the compartment they had already.

"James tried coming in here with his friends to steal the compartment. But we refused. He is just jealous that Uncle Ron had picked the best one for us to sit in. Now he has to go sit in the back, where it gets really bumpy sometimes," Lily said with a smug smile, sitting down next to the window.

"And we picked you up some things from the trolley," Hugo said, nudging some of the food in the compartment towards her. "Sorry, I got hungry and sort of ate a bit of it," he said, a blush rising to his ears.

Alice smiled kindly. "It's fine, really. Have as much as you want. I just really appreciate this," she said.

Lily shrugged it off. "Don't worry about it. You are our friend," she insisted. "Besides, we got worried that you weren't going to make it on the train. We saw you having to nearly jump on," she said, laughing slightly.

Now it was Alice's turn to blush, her cheeks turning a dangerous red. "Yes, well, I'm glad I made it," she said, taking a bit of her Cauldron Cake, realizing just how hungry she was. She was so worried with everything else that she had forgotten to eat.

They had fallen into an easy conversation, telling stories about their summer, when the compartment door opened. All three of their heads jerked towards it, only to see a nervous boy standing there, his light brown hair mussed up, worry etched into every feature.

"Hi, I'm um-Neil. Neil Zabini. And I happened to have lost my owl," he said, running a hand through his hair.

"Your owl?" Hugo asked incredulously, some of the food spilling from his mouth.

He nodded. "Some of the kids were messing around in the hall, and I bumped into one, and I dropped my cage, and the hatch broke open, and Yohan just flew away. If you see him, could you just…return him? I'm near the back of the train, and I'd appreciate it," he said, fumbling nervously with his black tie.

The three of them exchanged a glance and nodded. "I think we can do that," Lily said immediately, smiling. Neil looked please at their response, and Alice assumed that he had encountered some students who weren't as willing to participate in returning his owl to him.

"Thank you! I appreciate it. I'm just…yeah. Thank you," he said, before darting from the compartment to move to the next one. He was an odd one, but Alice couldn't help but feel slightly sympathetic towards him.

"I met his family once," Hugo said, leaning in towards the two girls as soon as he left. "His older sister is really loud and obnoxious. I suppose she has scared that bloke to death. He looked like he was about to keel over with nerves," he said, shaking his head.

"Poor thing," Alice muttered, Lily nodding in agreement.

"It must be rather hard to lose an owl. I mean, they are big-" Lily started, but no sooner had Lily began speaking, did all three of them realize that Neil forgot to close their compartment door, and a large barn owl flew in, and landed on Alice's head.

Alice's eyes widened as big as saucers, her entire body trembling slightly. Hugo and Lily just looked up at her, mouths agape and eyes wide. "Please tell me I am not imagining things and there is a big owl on my head," she asked, her voice weak and shaky.

"I see it," Hugo said.

"Me too," Lily agreed, her voice quiet. The three of them sat there for a few silent moments, unsure what to do with the owl that had just perched itself on top of Alice's head.

"So, I'm guessing this is Yohan," Alice muttered. She just wanted to shoo the owl away, but if this was Neil's owl, it would scare the owl into the hallway, and Merlin knows when they would find it again. The owl seemed rather important to him. And she didn't want the owl attacking her, either.

"Don't move, or you'll scare it," Lily cautioned, scared to move too.

Alice didn't dare to nod, and with in the next two seconds, everything happened at once. Neil came barging in through the door, gasping "Yohan!" and immediately reached for the owl. The action scared the owl, immediately clamping down on Alice's skull and spreading its large wings out. One of them hit Lily in the face, and the claws from the bird scratched Alice's head, causing a scream to be emitted from her mouth. Alice's scream startled Hugo, who spilled his pumpkin juice all over the floor, causing Neil to slip on the floor. Finally, Yohan flew off Alice's head and landed on top of Neil's stomach, perched there proudly.

The four of them froze in stunned silence, afraid to be the first to move. It was finally Hugo who finally burst into the first fit of laughter, earning a glare from Lily. Soon though, the laughter became infectious, and Neil began laughing too. Against their wishes and better judgment, Alice and Lily joined in with giggles, all four of them filled with laughter at the absurdity of the situation.

A few minutes passed before they could finally compose themselves. Neil had a tight hold on Yohan, making sure he didn't fly off again, and Lily was helping Alice with the cut on her head. "I am so sorry about that. I'll make it up to you, in some way," Neil insisted.

Alice shook her head. "Don't fret about it too much. I'm sure this happens all the time," she said, pressing the cloth on her head. She knew it didn't, but the boy's shaking was worse than hers, and she just wanted to soothe him for now.

He merely just nodded, his grip strong on Yohan. "Thank you, for finding Yohan. I'll see you guys at the sorting," he said, before scurrying out of there, again, closing the door this time.

"Yeah, and I hope he gets a better cage," Hugo muttered, shaking his head. Alice just grimaced and finally removed the cloth from her head when the bleeding had finally finished. Lily pulled out her new wand and expertly cleaned the mess up, as if it was second nature. Alice was amazing, considering she was only a first year. Must have inherited a great deal of her parent's magic.

But, something Yohan said had got Alice thinking; the sorting. She was nervous. Her father was a Gryffindor, and her mother was a Hufflepuff, and she would be happy with either of those houses. But, what if she ended up in Slytherin? Some of her father's old prejudices had carried over, and she wondered if he would still be proud of her if she was sorted into the house of Salazar Slytherin.

"I can't wait to become a Gryffindor," Hugo said confidently.

Lily just rolled her eyes at him. "You can't decide what house you end up in. The hat does," she said. "But, I do hope I'm in Gryffindor too. Both my brothers are. My whole family has been in there," she said.

Alice nodded. "I wouldn't mind Gryffindor either," she said with a small smile, though the butterflies in her stomach wouldn't go away.

Lily seemed to sense this, placing a hand on her shoulder. "The sorting is nothing to worry about. James tried telling me we had to wrestle a troll, but Albus assured me it was just the Sorting Hat. My dad told me the story how your dad pulled Godric Gryffindor's sword out of the Sorting Hat," she smiled.

Alice's eyes widened in recognition of the memory. "I remember my dad telling me that story a couple times. But, I never knew the sword came from _the _Sorting Hat though," she said. Her father did say a hat, but she never realized he meant the Hogwarts' Sorting Hat. That was…huge.

Lily nodded. "Yep. Dad told me all about it. He said it was amazing! Your dad is a real hero, Alice," she smiled, hoping the words were enough to give confidence to her friend.

A smile grew on Alice's face. Her dad, a hero. She had always seen him like that in her eyes, but the rest of the wizarding world, admiring her father, was just surreal to her. She had been rather sheltered most of her life, both her parents slightly worried that there might be some Death Eaters still out there, looking for revenge, and had never really been exposed to her father's status in the wizarding world.

That cemented her decision though. She definitely wanted to be in Gryffindor. She wanted to be brave, to learn what her father did, to make him proud, to be able to do what he did. She had a lot to live up to, but she was going to try her hardest to do so. She now had friends, good ones too, and enough chaotic situations in one train ride to last her the whole year. She knew this all wasn't going to be easy, but she was installed with a new sense of confidence. Like her mother said, this was supposed to be the time of her life, and Alice was going to make sure that it was.

The train started to slow down, all too soon, and the three of them began gathering their stuff up. "You ready?" Lily asked, as she head towards the door.

Alice looked at her, the words having an entirely different meaning. "Yeah, I am," she smiled, and followed Lily and Hugo out, beginning her on an adventure of her own.


End file.
